CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the opening of registration for the ACRL 14th National Conference, “Pushing the Edge: Explore, Extend, Engage,” to be held March 12- 15, 2009, in Seattle. Registration materials are available online at http://www.acrl.org/seattle. Register by the early-bird deadline of Jan. 16, 2009, and save more than 20 percent on conference registration. Special group registration prices, reduced airfares, hotel discounts and scholarships are also available.

The ACRL 14th National Conference will feature more than 250 peer-reviewed sessions specific to the needs of academic and research librarians and staff. The conference will challenge attendees to push their boundaries and promises the opportunity to explore new ideas, engage in new learning and extend the collective vision of the future of academic and research libraries. ACRL's celebrated line-up of keynote speakers include:

Naomi Klein - Thursday, March 12, 2009
Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author, known for her political analyses of corporate globalization. Klein’s third book, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” is expected to be the focus of her opening keynote address. She is also author of “No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies and Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization.”

Sherman Alexie - Friday, March 13, 2009
A prolific novelist, poet and screenplay writer, Alexie has been hailed as one of the best young writers of his generation. In his lectures, he tells autobiographical tales of contemporary American Indian life laced with razor-sharp humor and bits of history, pop culture and social commentary. Alexie's best known works include “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” “Smoke Signals” and “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”

Ira Glass - Sunday, March 15, 2009
Ira Glass is the host and producer of the public radio program “This American Life.” The show premiered on Chicago public radio in late 1995 and is now heard on more than 500 public radio stations each week by over 1.7 million listeners. Under Glass's editorial direction, “This American Life” has won the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence and on most weeks, the podcast of the program is the most popular podcast in America.

FREE Virtual Conference access of every conference presentation
ACRL is giving registrants more for their money by providing one year of complimentary access to every presentation in the ACRL 2009 Virtual Conference Community. Presentation PowerPoints will be synched with program audio so attendees can download sessions they missed on their own time.

Go Green @ ACRL
ACRL will implement more eco-friendly practices than ever before during the Seattle conference. Attendees can help reduce the meeting’s ecological footprint by committing to the Green Pledge when they register for the conference.

“I am delighted that the ACRL 14th National Conference will be held in Seattle, long known as the ‘Emerald City,’” said conference chair Betsy Wilson, dean of University Libraries at the University of Washington. “Just as Seattle has been on a mission to become one of the most environmentally-friendly cities in the country, the ACRL conference is implementing practices and programs to help us ‘go green’ at the conference.”

Attendees will be encouraged to use digital copies of handouts and presentation materials whenever possible and will be able to consult the conference program to learn which vendors provide sustainable services and practices. The conference will feature Invited Green Speaker, Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar, the largest car-sharing company in the world, and current CEO of GoLoco, an innovative online ridesharing community. ACRL will provide attendees with an interactive conference map highlighting local green restaurants and businesses to patronize.

More than 80 scholarships available
ACRL is offering more than 80 scholarships exceeding $40,000 in value to support participation in the conference for librarians, students, Spectrum scholars and support staff. There are five scholarship categories, and all applications must be received by Dec. 5, 2008. Visit the scholarships section of the conference Web site for more details.

Complete details about the conference are online at
http://www.acrl.org/seattle. E-mail acrl@ala.org with conference-related questions.
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The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing nearly 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments. ACRL is on the Web at
http://www.acrl.org/.